Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in late March revealed the local government area of Ararat underwent a population decline across the 2020-2021 period.

The regional population estimates have shown Ararat saw a 0.3 per cent population decline for the year starting June 30, 2020.

This was opposed to other regional centres such as Ballarat and Bendigo, which saw increases of 1.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

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However, despite the estimated decline in population, Ararat Rural City mayor Jo Armstrong said the figures should not be a cause for anxiety.

"People are increasingly confident in choosing Ararat Rural City as the place they want to live, work and invest," she said.

"Ararat Rural City has forged ahead with implementing strategies to bring more people to our area to fill vacant jobs, and build more houses with a greater diversity of stock."

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Across the 2020-2021 period Ararat saw 100 births and 123 deaths, which may have contributed to the slight decrease in population.

The rural city also had 763 internal arrivals, and 16 international arrivals compared to 768 internal departures and 28 overseas departures.

State-wide, Melbourne's population declined by an estimated 60,500 people or 1.2 per cent, and the rest of the state increased by 15,700, or one per cent.

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